Process for the manufacture of fusel-oil and its components.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX EHRLICH, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO ADOLF SULTAN ANDISIDOR STERN OF. BERLIN, GERMANY. A

PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FUSEL-OIL AND ITS QOHPONENTS.

No. season Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 21, 1908.

Application filed March 22, 1906. Serial No. 807,110.

able by-product obtained in the preparation,

of alcohol from corn, otatoes, molasses and other fermentable su stances, has become to-day an important raw material for technical purposes, and has found varied uses in different mdustries.

The amyl alcohol of the mixture of isoamyl-alcohol and optically active amylalcohol, (which vary according to the origin of the mash), is contained in fusel-oil, and is a very much sought for article which is chiefly used for and the various amy lic esters for the manufacture of fruit ethers, fruit flavors, etc., and which serves even in industrial chemistry as a frequently used solvent.

For industrially producing the amyl-alcohols and the other components of fusel-oil, the only method heretoforeemployed, was spirit manufacture, as the synthetic chemical method for producing the higher homologues of theEethyl-tilcohol could never find a practical a gplication, owing to their bein very comp hated and their ield very sma l, and the quality and yield oi fusel-oil produced in a single fermentation of spirit manufacture was very small, dependi on rocesses entirely be lyond the contrb f of t e manufacturer. tical processes known for producing fusel-oil or its most valuable components, such as amlyl-alcohol in any large quantity.

have found that fusel-oll in the fermentation process of spirit manufacture is formed from those amino-acids, which correspond to those of the alcohols contained in fusel-oil and which are to be found in hydrolised albuminous substances and are the rodncts of the decomposition of albumin. f such aminoacids are left in the presence of carbohydrates under the influence of ferments, such as yeasts and the like, fusel-eil corresponding in composition to those products of the decomposition of the albuminous substance or components of these is obtained. This forroducing amyl-acetate here have heretofore been no prac .mation is explained by thesim le chemical relations existi between t e chemical composition of t ese roducts of albumin and the components 0 the fusel-orl. Hence from that amino-acid, leucin, which is the chief product of the decomposition of an albuminous substance, iso-amyl-alcohol is pro duced, which is the chief component of the fusel-oil. It will be found that iso-amyl-alcohol can be produced by the aid of ferments, such as yeasts from leucin and by hydrohzing carbonic acid and ammonia according to the following equation:

CH-CH .CH.NH .CO H-f-H O: 2 I 2 In a similar manner the optically active amyl-alcohol, which is also contained in all fusel-oils in addition to the iso-amyl-alcohol particularly in molasses fusel-oil is produced om. the iso-leucin, which was discovered and explained as to its constitution by me some time a 0, (Cf. F. Ehrlich, Berichte der Deutschen hemischen Gesellschaft, 37th year (1904), pages 1809 to 1840), according to the following equation:

In a similar manner the alcohols contained in fusel-oil, besides those already mentioned, are formed. For instance, the iso-butyL- alcohol is produced from the amino-isovaleric acid, according to the following equation:

For producing the alcohols of the fusel-oil, the amino acids corresponding to these alco hols in their constitution, such as leucin, isoleucin, amino-isovaleric acid, and the like, are added to the usual mash, and the usual ferm'ent, such as yeast, is added, and fermentation is effected in the usual manner at about seventy-seven to eighty-sixde ees Fahrenheit. The spirit 'roduced is istilled after this operation am so arated from the fuseloil in the spirit recti er in the same manner nowused in spirit manufacture.

In carrying out the process an usual kind of mash containing sugar is emp 0 ed as the carbohydrate, the principal bein t smashes made of corn of all kinds, rye, w eat, barley,

oats, Indian corn, rice, potatoes, beetroot, cane sugar, molasses etcetera. As the amylalcohol or the mixture of iso-amyl-alcohol and amyl-alcohol is the most important and valuable of all of the components of the fusel-oil, those mashes will generally be combined with the leucins individually or mixed, purified or not, or with the impure leucins produced by hydrolizing the albuminous substance of casein, bloodfibrin, waste yeast dregs and the like or separated from the distillers waste of molasses. Such hydrolizing of albuminous substance may be effected by acids, alkaline fluids or ferments such, for instance, as trypsin, as is clearly described in hand books of organic chemistry, (See Bernthsen, Organic Chemistry, London, 1889, page 516, and Roscoe und Sohorlemmer, Aasfahrliches Lehrbach der Chemie, (Braunschweig, 1901), Vol. 9, page 35, etc. and in the Berichte der Deatschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 37, year 1904, pages 1831 to 1833.) To these substances suitable foodsalts are added in order to give to the leaven or yeast the material which it requires for its formation in addition to nitrogen, such for instance, as hosphorous salts, and the like.

The following are exam les of the process:

Potato mash-1000 g. potatoes are steamed in the usual manner in the Henze apparatus and saccharified after jellifying with 20 kg. green malt in a steeping trough at a temperature of 60-65 Cent. (140149 Fahrenheit). To the still hot mash leucin is added in any desired quantity for instance, in the present example 25 kg. un-

urified leucin is added and the mixture eated until the substance is entirely dissolved. This unpurified leucin is a mixture of leucin and iso-leucin produced by the hydrolysis or splitting of albuminous substances. The thus prepared mash is then mixed in the fermentation vat with distillers I yeast in. a suitable manner and ferments at a temperature of 25-30 Cent. (7786 Fahrenheit). During the fermentation the added leucin will be transformed into amylalcohol, which is obtained together with the raw spirit on the subsequent distilling of the For separating the fusel-oil either is fractioned in any known manner in the distilling column or the mash is directly treated in a suitable manner in a spirit rectifier, whereby the spirit is obtained in the usual manner in a refined state, whereas the amyl-alcohol will be collected in the fusel-oil separators. In this example from 1000 kgs. potatoes and 25 kg. raw leucin, 120 liters of refined s irit and about 10 kg. amyl-alcohol would be obtained. If the leucin has not been entirely transformed into amyl-alcohol, more fresh mash and fresh yeast is added to the original mash, and fermentation is continued until the leucin is entirely transformed.

mash. the raw spirit Molasses mash.-l000 kg. molasses of 80 on the Brixscale and of about 50% contents of sugar after having been, if necessary, heated in an autoclave for sterilizing, 1s mixed with from two to three times its weight of water, and the thus produced li uor is slightly acidified with hydroch oric or sulfuric acid, heated for awhile to drive out the volatile fatty acids, as formic acid and acetic acid, and then cooled tothe fermentin temperature. About one-third of this mo asses mash is now mixed with the amount of leaven or yeast necessary for the whole quantity and left for'a few hours at a temperature of 20 to 23 Cent. (68'- 3 Fahrenheit); then the remaining two-thirds of the molasses mash is added; in this has been previously dissolved the amount of leucin to be transformed into fusel-oil in the form, for instance of 80 kg. or impure leucin obtained for instance from the distillers'wash of molasses in the manner described in Berichte cler Deatschen ChemischenGesellschaft, Vol. 37, (1904) page 1817. Fermentation is then effected as usual at 2530 Cent. (77-86 Fahrenheit), whereu on the thereby formed products, alcohol an fusel-oil are separated as is usually done in molasses distilleries. In this example, if the leucin is completely transformed about 300 liters of spirit and about 40 kg. amyl-alcohol will be obtained.

It has been found advisable to employ for the above process yeast or leaven containing as little nitrogen as ossible.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is:

1. A process of making fusel-oil and its components, which consists in adding leucin, iso-leucin and amino-isovaleric acid to a medium containing. carbo-hydrates and ferments then effecting in any known man- .ner fermentation of the mass and separating the fusel-oil and its. components, thereby produced, from the ethyl-alcohol formed at the same time.

2. A process of making fuseloil and its components consisting in exposing materials rich in leucin, iso-leuoin and aminoisovaleric acid to the action of ferments in the presence of a medium containing carbo-hydrates, by adding such materials to meshes, such as molasses, potato mash, and the like, effecting fermentation in the usual manner and separating the fusel-oil and its components produced in the fermentation from the ethyl-alcohol formed by said processl 3. A process for making fusel-oil and its components, which consists in adding leu cin to a mash, then adding yeast to efiect fusel-oil and its components so formed from the ethyl-alcohol formed by the process.

4. A process for making fusel-oil and its components, which consists in adding isoleucm to a mash, then adding yeast to effer'mentation of the mass and separating the fect fermentation of the mass, and then separating the fusel-oil and its com onents from the ethyl-alcohol produced by t e process.

5. A process for making fusel-oil and its components, which consists in addin leucin to a medium containing combo-hydrates and suitable food salts, then efiecting fermentation in the mass, and then separatin the fusel-oil and its components produce by the fermentation from the ethyl-alcohol 10 formed in the process.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

v FELIX EHRLIOH. Witnesses WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HAsPER. 

